Cynthia Garrett

"I share novelist George Eliot's view that literature, at its best, can lead to an
extension of sympathies. Fiction, poetry, and drama encourage us to inhabit different
perspectives, gaining insight into other minds, times, and cultures. Students who
major in English, whether they concentrate in literature or creative writing, experience
language and literary form as means of inquiry and expression."

Professor Garrett's research explores gender and religious issues in early modern
English literature, specifically lyric poetry. Her courses take students from British
poetry and prose of the medieval period through the 19th century. Her own research
and study has led her to begin writing historical fiction. She enjoys the small classes
and close work with students at Wells, and the excitement that comes from making connections
between texts and fields of study.

Education

1978 B.A. University of California, San Diego, Literature1982 M.A. San Francisco State University, English (Concentration in Creative Writing)1990 Ph.D. University of California, Irvine, English

Select Publications

Garrett, Cynthia, (2004). "Sexual Consent and the Art of Love in the EarlyModern English Lyric." Studies in English Literature.